Judges 8

Matthew(i)1 And the men of Ephraim sayd vnto hym. Why haste thou serued vs thus, that thou calledst vs not, when thou wentest to fyght with the Madianites. And they chode with hym a good.
2 And he sayde vnto them: What dead haue I done lyke vnto yours: are not the clusters of Ephraim better then the wyne heruest of Abiezer?
3 God hath deliuered into your handes the Lordes of Madian, Oreb & Zeb. And what was I able to do lyke as you haue done. And then their spyrytes abated from of hym, when he had sayde that.
4 And then Gedeon came to Iordan & passed ouer, bothe he & the thre hundred men that were with him very faynte, & yet folowed the chace.
5 And he sayde vnto the men of Socoth: geue I praye you kakes of bread vnto the people that folowe me: for they be fayntye, that I maye folowe after Zebath and Zalmona kinges of Madian.
6 And the Lordes of Socoth sayd: are the handes of Zebath & Zalmona now in thyne handes that we shuld geue bread vnto thy company.
7 And Gedeon sayde, therfore when the Lorde hath deliuered Zebath and Zalmona into myne hand I wyl teare the flesh of you wyth the thornes of the wyldernes & wyth breers.
8 And he went thence to Phanuel, & spake vnto them lykewise. And the men of Phanuel answered him, as dyd the men of Socoth.
9 And he sayd also vnto the men of Phanuel, when I come agayne in peace, I wyll breake doune thys toure.
10 Zebah and Zalmona were in Arkar & theyr hostes wyth them, vpon a .xv. thousand, whiche were all that were lefte of al the hostes of them of the Easte. And they that were slayne were a hundred & twentye thousand men that drew swerdes.
11 And Gedeon went thorow them that dwell in tabernacles on the east syde of Nobah and Iebahah, & smote the hoste: for the hoste dyd cast no perelles.
12 Zebah and Zalmona fledde. But he folowed after them, and toke the two Kynges of the Madianites, Zebah and Zalmona and discomforted all the hoste.
13 And Gedeon the sonne of Ioas returned from battel, the sonne beyng yet vp,
14 & caughte a ladde of the men of Socoth, and enquered of hym. And he wrote him of the Lordes & Elders of Socoth .lxxvij. men.
15 Then he came vnto the men of Socoth and sayde: Beholde Zebah and Zalmona wyth whiche ye caste me in the tethe, sayinge: are the handes of Zebah & Zalmona all redye in thyne hande, that we shulde geue bread vnto thy faynte men.
16 And he toke the elders of the cytie, and thornes of the wyldernesse & breers, and al to tare them therewyth.
17 And he brake doune the toure of Phanuel, and slewe the men of the cytye.
18 And then sayde vnto Zebah and Zalmona, what maner men were they whyche ye slew at Thabor? and they aunswered, the lykenesse of the & them is all one, euen after the fashyon of the chyldren of a kyng.
19 And he sayd: they were my brethren, euen my mothers chyldren, & as trulye as the Lord lyueth, yf ye had saued theyr liues, I wolde not sleye you.
20 And he sayd vnto Iether hys eldest sonne, vp, and slee them. But the ladde drue not hys swerde, for he feared, because he was yet young.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmona sayde. Ryse thou & fall vpon vs, for as the man is so is hys strength. And Gedeon arose & slewe them: & he toke awaye the Chaynes that were on theyr camels neckes.
22 Then the men of Israel sayde vnto Gedeon Raygne ouer vs, both thou, thy sonne and thy sonnes sonne, for thou hast delyuered vs oute of the handes of the Madianites.
23 And Gedeon said vnto them, I wyl not raygne ouer you, nether shall my chyldren raygne ouer you, but the Lorde shall raygne ouer you.
24 Neuerthelater Gedeon sayde vnto them: I wolde desyre a certayne requeste of you euen that you wolde geue me euerye man the earynges of hys praye. For they had golden earynges, because they were Ismaelites.
25 And they sayd: we wyll do it. And they spreed a mantell, and dyd cast there into euerye man the earynges of hys pray.
26 And the weyght of the golden earynges was a thousande & seuen hundred sycles of golde, besydes brouches, ouches and garmentes of skarlet that were of the kynges of Madian, & besyde the chaynes, that were about theyr camels neckes.
27 And Gedeon made an Ephod therof, & put it in hys cytye Ephrah. And all Israell went a whoring after hym there, whiche thyng was the ruyne of Gedeons house.
28 Thus were the Madianinites brought lowe before the chyldren of Israel, so that they lift vp theyr heades no more And the contreye was in quyetnesse fourtye yeares in the dayes of Gedeon.
29 And Ierobaal the sonne of Ioas went and dwelte in hys owne house.
30 And Gedeon had .lxx. sonnes of hys bodye begotten, for he had many wyues.
31 And hys concubyne that dwelt in Sichem bare him a sonne also, whose name he called Abimelech.
32 And Gedeon the sonne of Ioas dyed, when he was of a good age, & was buryed in the buryal of Ioas hys father euen in Ephrah that pertayned vnto the father of the Ezrytes.
33 But as sone as Gedeon was dead, the chyldren of Israel turned away, and went a whoryng after Baal, and made Baal berith theyr God,
34 & thought not on the Lorde theyr God which had delyuered them out of the handes of all theyr enemyes on euery syde.
35 Nether shewed they mercy on the house of Ierobaal, otherwyse called Gedeon, accordyng to all the goodnesse which he shewed them.